


Good Things Come Too

by Leni



Series: Makes Three [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold in the Dark Castle, F/M, Rumbelle is Hope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 04:59:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8358280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: The morning after."Where he had failed a dozen times, if in his imagination only, Belle managed with six words."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Little Inkstone. Prompt: shy

Rumpelstiltskin paused in his work, once more unable to devote his focus to the potion he was meant to enhance and deliver in a few nights. Instead his eyes strayed to the clock he'd added to his workroom that morning.

Just as it had several times before, it confirmed that it was past the time Belle usually came to his turret with a tray of sandwiches or a simple soup.

There had been no sign of her the whole morning.

With a scowl, he turned back to his ingredients. He did not need to eat, anyway, and her attempts to tempt him into any meal outside dinner had stopped being intriguing several months ago.

Better really, to have no interruptions. If the girl wouldn't see him now...

The vial in his hand exploded, protesting the quashing grip of his hand. Its contents ran down his skin, sizzling but causing no injury, and finally dripped to the floor in heavy brown clumps. He sneered at the mess. It had been supposed to be bright yellow at this stage. He couldn't even get a simple restorative potion right. Useless. He was useless and distracted and it was all her...

No.

He wasn't monster enough to blame Belle.

He had known what he risked, when he had taken her hand the night before. He had known there would be a price for each laugh and tender caress. He had still greedily drunk it all in, her every sigh and gasp, and promised her silently that he would pay her back for each moment of bliss.

Accepting her decision to avoid him was a necessary first step.

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, already marking down the boundaries between what would become her quarters within the castle, and the rooms he would keep to himself. She would want for nothing, not for herself or the kid. He supposed that was the least he could do.

Once he would have offered to set her free. He had, too, for all the offer had fallen flat against her stubborn refusal. She had promised forever, Belle had said, and what kind of example would she set, if she broke her word?

(And he had laughed, because women had always broken their promises to him, and with far less reason than Belle had.)

So last night he had asked for a renewal of that promise. It had been his one condition before he followed her up the stairs to her room. That she stay. That she didn't run away. 

(But if she so much as hinted at it, wouldn't he release her, throw the doors open and watch her leave? Yes. Fool that he was, he would.)

Sneering at his own weakness, he curled the fingers of his right hand. His teeth clenched as the movement upset the little cuts from the broken vial. The bits of glass vanished with his next breath, and the small gashes were healed soon after, along with the one at his cheek, from where one of the shards had flown at him.

The great Dark One, bleeding in his own laboratory.

This was what happened when he allowed himself to be distracted.

"Rumple?"

He stiffened at the sound of her voice, unprepared and half shocked out of his skin. "Belle," he gasped, trying too late to modulate his voice into a more ordinary tone. 

She really was standing at the doorstep when he turned around, a small smile on her face and a tray in her hands.

"Hi," she started, shifting from foot to foot. "Is it okay if I..."

With a nod, she gestured toward the corner of the worktable closest to the door. He had fallen into the habit to clean it off any objects around midday, ready for Belle to set him a proper meal. He didn't always have the time or patience to sit down, but she always tried, and in the end it had been easier to give in and make the small gesture into an habit.

"Yes, of course," he said, watching her carefully as she came into the room.

The line of her shoulders was tense, but there was no fear in her expression. Belle placed the tray in its usual spot, giving herself into the practiced movements of pouring him a cup of tea and arranging a small tower of ham sandwiches on a heated plate

For a moment he wondered whether the last night had been a hallucination. The heat of her, her questing fingers, the sound of his name called between little gasps. Had he really been invited to witness a woman's passion, just to have her play the dutiful maid the next day?

"Belle?"

Her head snapped up, her movement so uncoordinated as she turned around that her hip hit against the corner of the table. She didn't even seem to notice, as she faced him with a smile that was suddenly too bright. "Yes?"

Rumpelstiltskin blinked, unable to describe her behavior as anything other than nervous. Even now, her left hand fidgeted with the teacup handle, twirling her index finger round and round the porcelain gap until she noticed and made a fist, hiding it between her skirts. 

She looked ready to run, and what confounded him was that he suddenly wasn't sure which direction she would pick. He had expected to be given a wide berth, to find no opposition when he announced that he needed to travel for a week or three.

But instead Belle was here, gazing expectantly at him.

It was hopeless to believe that he could ever fulfill a woman's expectations.

"Uh."

To his surprise, Belle's expression softened. "I, um. Sorry? I overslept." Her cheeks tinged with red at the admission, while Rumpelstiltskin sighed in relief that this was an explanation for her lateness rather than a complaint. "Which of course meant that Matthew's schedule was thrown off, so I've been catching up all morning."

He was nodding. He knew he was nodding, but it was a reaction to the slowly-sinking fact that Belle had never meant to abandon him, rather than because he actually understood what she was saying.

Belle kept talking. "I had planned to... well, something different." She flashed him a little smile, then shrugged her shoulders. "But I figured you might be hungry." She gestured to the plate. "Are you?"

Rumpelstiltskin just kept nodding.

Belle brightened, but her smile dimmed when he didn't move. "Rumple," she asked, a hint of worry in her voice, "Are you okay?"

That elicited an earnest laugh. "Isn't that my line?" he said brightly, enjoying her responding blush. In three strides he had crossed the room to stand before her. His hands itched to hold her, to remind himself that this was no dream.

He didn't count on Belle making a grab for him first.

Her hands came to wrap around his wrists, stopping him from reaching for her. Rumpelstiltskin laughed again, more softly this time, at the thought of the many powerful people who would exchange their souls for a chance to hold the Dark One at their whim.

Belle had paid a different price, and she'd done it willingly. Years of her life, given so he could get to know her. Hours with him, reminding him about how jokes didn't always have to slice and hurt, and that there were small memories that could be shared without leaving his soul bleeding.

Rumpelstiltskin wasn't afraid to give into her, trusting that her aim wasn't to control him.

"Are _you_ okay, my darling?"

He had taken care with her, as best as he had known how to. If he had to be the first, then he had wanted her to remember the experience with some fondness.

"Yes! Yes, of course." Her blush heightened, and she ducked her head for a moment before she took a deep breath and raised it again, eyes locking with his. Her smile was shy, but her grip at his wrist was firm. "Will you... come to me tonight?"

Rumpelstiltskin inhaled loudly, staring at her. Despite the distress at what had seemed to be Belle's avoidance, his mind had been busy plotting multiple scenarios to woo her and earn a second night at her side. Every time one had seemed plausible, the fear that she regretted everything, that she'd turn him down and never show any tenderness for him again, had grabbed hold of him until he discarded the idea and started again.

Where he had failed a dozen times, if in his imagination only, Belle managed with six words.

Seven: "Rumple?"

At last he remembered to nod.

She squeezed his hand tightly. "Good," she said.

The two of them grinned at each other, probably with twin wishes for the daylight hours to pass quickly.

Then Belle took a breath, released one of his hands. "I gotta..."

"See to the boy," Rumpelstiltskin said, understanding completely. Even with magic ready to warn them in case of any trouble, a two year old could only be left unsupervised for so long. "Of course."

Belle stood on her tiptoes, putting her hand on his shoulder while the other still wouldn't let go of his wrist. "Can I...?" she started, glancing at him with hesitation before her eyes flicked to his mouth.

The world tilted around him at the unasked question.

Again, he was only able to nod in acquiescence.

She kissed him, so softly and so brief that he found himself leaning forward, following her lips, when she retreated. One last brush against his mouth, and she took a step backwards, letting go of him. "I'll see you later? I mean..." She bit her lip, her cheeks flaming suddenly, "...before?"

It seemed he had done nothing but nod, once she'd set foot in the room. "I'll be done by dinnertime," he promised.

Belle beamed, content. "Good," she said happily before she took the empty tray and started toward the hallway.

His eyes followed her, and he couldn't help the fond smile that crept over his lips. "Indeed," he whispered, trying with all his might to believe his own words. "It's good."

 

The End  
23/10/16


End file.
